Georgian Court University Magazine

alumni class notes
70 s Class
Agents:
1970—Claudia
McCormack Sibree;
1971—Peggy Kudla, Kathleen Kish
Moon, Donna Zoccola Soultoukis;
1972—Maria Chirichiello Cacioppo,
Constance Chismar, Nancy Kalvin;
1973—Patricia Cook, Eileen Lynch,
Michelle Hessinger Sarama, Shelley
Lynch Wasilewski; 1974—Evelyn Saul
Quinn; 1976—Kathleen Gallant; 1977—
Linda Pesce, Constance Anne Reymann;
1979—Denise DeFillipo Rothstein,
Cheryl Stoeber-Goff
Members from the Class of 1968 invited Mary Arthur Beal, RSM, Ph.D., ’55, former dean
of the Graduate School, to dinner at the Olive Garden in Springfield, New Jersey, this past
May. Pictured are Susan Arndt Leonard; Lauretta Biasi Miller; Sister Mary Arthur; Debbie
Hanley Williams, president of the Alumni Association; and Marjorie Murphy Hale.
Grace Letizia Cairns ’68 is happy
to announce that she has become a
grandmother twice more. Her daughter
Kimberly and her husband, Jason
Donahue, had a girl, Samantha, born
October 7, 2008. Grace’s daughter
Beth Anne and her husband, Craig
Sabath, had a daughter, Alona, born
January 3, who joins her eight-year-old
sister Delaney.
Mary Simon Robb, RSM, ’68 was
inducted into the 2009 Camden Catholic
High School Hall of Fame. She has
worked in, and organized, older adult
programs throughout central New Jersey
for most of her years as a Sister of Mercy.
Sister Mary Simon co-founded and
directed the Bayshore Senior Day Center
in Keansburg, which grew from 7 to
1,500 members in just six years. Her work
was acknowledged with two Women-ofthe-Year
citations and the Hannah G.
Solomon Humanitarian Award. When
Sister Mary Simon was named executive
director of the Monmouth County Office
on Aging in 1981, the county became the
first in the state to have Adult Protective
Services. She served on the county’s
founding board of the Senior Citizens’
Activity Network (SCAN). Her dedication
prompted the Sister Mary Simon
Humanitarian Award for SCAN. During
her 17 years as executive director, she
served on 31 county, state, and national
boards and committees. Sister Mary
Simon has also trained home-health aides
and taught classes in understanding the
elderly. Since 2002, she has coordinated
ministry to the Diocese of Trenton. The
work involves establishing parish nurse
programs in the diocese, which has
grown from 9 to 76 parishes with 403
volunteer nurses. For her work with these
programs, she received one of the Bishop’s
Nostrum Ecclesiam Tempus Awards.
Sister Mary Simon also received the
Heart of the Community Award from the
Volunteer Center affiliated with Family
and Children's Services and the National
Council of Christians and Jews Award.
Ginny Barrett Agans ’69 reports
that her cousin and daughter of Patti
Hamilton ’50 (deceased) Susan Flood
Burk has accepted a position as Special
Representative of President Barack
Obama, with the rank of Ambassador.
Catherine Graham McCall ’70, wrote a
book, When the Piano Stops: A Memoir of
Healing from Sexual Abuse, which is being
released by Seal Press. Fourteen years after
graduating from GCC, she earned her
M.S. degree from Auburn University and
became a marriage and family therapist.
Cathy has been doing clinical work for
25 years, and finally decided to write a
book about her own early experiences
of abuse and the powerful healing that
she experienced through therapy. Her
life at GCC is mentioned in the book,
and she mentions that she will always be
grateful for the values that the Sisters of
Mercy instilled in her and for the quality
education she received here.
Mary Shamus Zehrer, RSM, ’70,
principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea
School in Atlantic City, was chosen
by the Diocese of Camden’s Catholic
Schools Office to receive the 2009
Distinguished Principal Award.
Sher Marie Farrell ’71, his the director
and founder of the Farrell Ballet Theatre
at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. The
theatre staged “Homage to the Sylph” in
June, which was choreographed by Sher
and a member of her theatre.
Maria Astor ’77 completed her master’s
degree in translation at the University of
Puerto Rico. Maria has three children:
Maria Christina is a lawyer, Robert
is finishing his master’s degree in
cinematography at the Savannah Institute
of Arts and Design in Georgia, and
Laurie is a high school senior.
44 | FALL 2009